In three sessions (November 18th, November 25th and December 2nd) we read three different chapters from When Things Fall Apart. We do so on the spot, with coffee, tea and cookies; no preparation is needed. In this first session, we take a perhaps daunting starting point: hopelessness and death. Pema Chödrön shows how becoming familiar with these big topics, can help us:
“Death in everyday life could also be defined as experiencing all the things that we don’t want. Our marriage isn’t working; our job isn’t coming together. Having a relationship with death in everyday life means that we begin to be able to wait, to relax with insecurity, with panic, with embarrassment, with things not working out.”*
Join us Monday, November 18th, from 4:00 until 5:30 PM, to discover more and join us in a conversation on hopelessness and death. All you need to do is sign up! We’re happy to have you.
Practical information
You don’t need a copy of the book; we share hand-outs with the parts we read during that session. We read the parts together out loud, but there is also time for personal re-reading, and reflecting; followed by time for conversation and exchanging thoughts. We open at 4:00 PM with ten to fifteen minutes of grabbing our coffees and teas and settling in. If you have any questions, be sure to join our WhatsApp chat, or send an email to newconnective@vu.nl.
This event is part of NEWConnective’s Great Minds Reading Club. Curious about more of NEWConnective? Go to VU.nl/NEWConnective or follow us on Instagram @newconnective.
*Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart. Heart Advice for Difficult Times, 20th-anniversary ed. (Shambhala, 2016): 42.